Presents and Presence
by JazziePerson
Summary: TV Show Episode Title Challenge - Prompt Set #7: Title Challenge: Precious Cargo - Hotch brings Emily back a gift.


**Author's Note:** Yay, another prompt done. I've been toying with this one for ages and I finally got it finished today. My exams are all over and so far I've got pretty good grades back. I think it's two Bs, two As and one A*. I'll get the last one back tomorrow. But that one was Philosophy and I don't think I did very well in that. Anyway, I hope you like this and please review it. Hopefully I will also be posting a chapter of _Emily and Agent Prentiss_ tonight.

DISCLIAMER: I don't own any of the characters.

**Prompt Set #7**

Show: Star Trek: Enterprise

Title Challenge: Precious Cargo

Presents and Presence

There was a knock at the door. Emily jumped up from the sofa and flew over to it, yanking it back. Almost silhouetted against the low sun, stood Hotch. He smiled and Emily launched herself at him, wrapping her arms around his neck. He had to step back to stop himself toppling over.

"You're glad to see me then?" he laughed.

"I missed you." Emily murmured into his shoulder, insistent.

"I realised."

Emily drew back. She looked Hotch straight in the eye. "Did you miss me?"

He grinned and considered teasing her, but then decided against it. He'd been away almost two weeks and he'd missed her too.

"Yes, sweetheart, I did."

Emily's smile widened and she pressed a kiss to his cheek. They weren't quite at the kissing-on-the-lips stage yet. Emily was looking forward to that stage.

Hotch could feel his cheeks aching; he hadn't smiled this much since he'd left to go to Salt Lake City to speak at a conference. And because of the way the whole thing had been timetabled, he'd been speaking every few days so hadn't been able to get home until now.

Very carefully, he picked Emily up and she wrapped her legs around his waist. Taking hold of his one suitcase and dragging it behind him, he carried Emily into the house, kicking the door closed albeit slightly unsteadily. He left the suitcase just inside and moved over to the couch. As soon as he got there, he dropped Emily onto the cushions and flopped down beside her.

"How was your flight?" Having spoken to him every day about what he'd been up to, Emily was struggling to think of something to ask.

"Ugh," Hotch shrugged. "Everyone and all their families seemed to be flying into Virginia today."

"Busy?"

"And noisy." He confirmed. "It meant I couldn't get any work done."

"Poor you." Emily rolled her eyes, sarcastic. "You work too much anyway."

Hotch shook his head, mockingly exasperated.

Emily opened her mouth to continue her point but Hotch cut her off, pressing a finger to her lips.

"Silly girl." He saw her eyes sparkle. "I have a present for you."

Emily's face seemed to open, displaying her curiosity. "Really?"

"Really."

"What is it?" she asked.

Hotch smiled. "Close your eyes."

Emily frowned. "Hotch! You know I hate that! Do I have to?"

"Yes, sweetheart." Hotch ran his finger down the side of her face. "But I promise you're safe. I'm not even leaving the room." He promised. He was well aware of Emily's anxieties. But he wasn't leaving the room and it was important to him.

Emily grumbled but closed her eyes anyway. She did trust him completely but Hotch didn't fail to notice how anxious she became as he moved away. Her muscles tensed and she was almost shivering with the stress she was feeling. Hotch glanced back and smiled at her, even though she had her eyes closed. He wished he could make this fear better for her but he knew that as long as she did this job, those fears were going to be there. And there was no way he could convince her to quit. Actually, they'd probably remain, even if she quit the BAU. He didn't want her to leave anyway so this was really was a useless internal monologue. Hotch shook his head to himself and turned back to his back.

He unzipped the suitcase and flipped up the top. Reaching in, he rummaged around and pulled out a bubble-wrapped parcel that had been also wrapped in his clothes. He'd figured he'd keep it as safe as possible. It was fragile after all.

"Hotch, come on! This is driving me crazy." Emily whined from the sofa.

Hotch smiled to himself and, picking up his present, he moved back to the sofa and sat down beside Emily. Her eyelids flickered.

"Can I open my eyes?"

"No." Hotch said softly. "Hold out your hands."

"What? Hotch!" Emily complained.

"Emily, just do it, please. For me."

Emily huffed in mock irritation but smiled and held out her hands tentatively.

"Good girl." Hotch praised and Emily snorted.

So, carefully, Hotch placed the package in Emily's hands. Her fingers curled involuntarily around it and her hands dropped a little under the sudden weight of it. Her face brightened in a smile.

"You can open your eyes now."

Emily's eyes flew open as soon as the words were out of his mouth. The curiosity in her eyes increased tenfold and she glanced up at Hotch sitting next to her.

"You brought me bubble-wrap?" she asked, an ironic smile tugging at her lips.

Hotch barked a laugh. "Open it, silly girl."

Emily looked back down as her fingers found the edge of the wrapping. She tugged at it, carefully removing the sticky-tape and folding back the layers of bubble-wrap. She got to a layer of orange tissue paper. Her fingers rested on it for a moment as she glanced up at Hotch and grinned. He laughed.

"Open it!"

Looking back down, Emily pulled off the tissue paper, being careful not to rip it. She pulled it away and looked down at her present. It was a little lamp, about thirty centimetres tall. It was a silver tree. The bottom was the broad, silver trunk of a tree with knarled bark. There were holes in it and inside, Emily could see the light bulb. The lead came out of the bottom at the back. The tree stretched up to thin branches like a real tree. But, perched amid the bows were small birds made out of blue and brown glass. Inside each was a tiny light bulb.

Emily looked up at Hotch, her eyes glowing. "It's beautiful, Hotch. I love it." She leaned forward and kissed him on the lips.

It only lasted a second, but then Hotch pulled back, smiling at her. "You're welcome, sweetheart. I'm glad you like it."

"I do." Emily nodded, looking down at the lamp again. "I love it."

Hotch leant against her, looking down at it with her. "I just saw it in a little shop and it made me think of you. It's beautiful, just like you."

Emily laughed and looked up at him. "Okay, that was corny." She was grinning like an idiot but she didn't care.

"Yeah, it was. But do you really mind?" Hotch asked, leaning in to kiss her again.

Emily smiled as his lips touched hers.

**Author's Note 2:** By the way, my brother designed this lamp as part of a competition and it just sparked my imagination. It was so cute that I just had to have Hotch giving it to Em. Please review!


End file.
